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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · racket · swing · wound · degree · bank · cold · nail

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. degree — temperature
  3. clip — to cut
  4. swing — to play on
  5. degree — an amount
  6. wound — an injury
  7. clip — for paper
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — in golf
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bank — for money
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bank — of a river
  20. cold — not warm
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. clip — a video
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com